Magnesium is considered a major mineral, and surprisingly one we are eating less of these days. Dietary intake of this mineral has declined among those eating a Western type of diet, and a supplement may be necessary for some people. Over half of the amount of magnesium in our body is found inside our bones, and the rest in soft tissue such as muscles. New research is amounting to evidence of magnesium’s role in much more than just building bones. Its role in maintaining a healthy blood pressure, decreasing and reducing Type 2 Diabetes as well as preventing migraine headaches has brought much needed attention to magnesium. Fortunately, magnesium can be found across a spectrum of many foods, including oats, wheat flour, black beans, acorn squash, almonds and almond butter! These are just a few examples of good sources of this vital mineral.

Since all our Once Again Nut Butter products contain magnesium, we believe it is another great reason to enjoy our nut butters in more recipes!

First, it is interesting and hopefully useful to you, for us to look at the new research linking magnesium and diabetes. A meta-analysis published by Diabetes Care looked at over 500,000 participants and showed a reduction in risk for diabetes type 2 of 14% with every 100mg increase in daily dietary magnesium intake. Then in 2015, another researcher looked at over 100 individuals with prediabetes , manifesting low blood levels of magnesium. The research was published in the Journal of Diabetes and Metabolism with the conclusion that an oral supplementation of at least 382mg of magnesium daily improved glycemic status in people with prediabetes. More studies will continue to look at how we can prevent and reverse Type 2 Diabetes with the help of nutrients including magnesium. But in the meantime, it is a good idea for us all to look at our own intake. Evaluate the possible need to adjust it to meet the dietary allowance, which is recommended for ages 19-30 of 310 mg/day for women and 400mg/day for men; and ages 31-50 of 320 mg/day for women and 420 mg/day for men.

It is not necessary to rely on supplements to meet the recommendation. They can easily be met by natural magnesium found in foods. A tablespoon of almond butter has about 45 mg of magnesium, one cup of brown rice has 84mg and 1 cup of black beans contain 91mg for example.

Although pumpkin season may have ended, you can find pumpkin puree year-round in the grocery store. Therefore, the recipe below is a fantastic option to start working on bumping up your magnesium intake right away by combining some good sources from almond butter, pumpkin, and even maple syrup. For a paleo diet option, make this recipe with maple syrup and almond butter only. For a vegan option, use flax eggs which actually worked out very well in this recipe. Stay with the maple syrup, but you can use peanut butter or any one of your favorite Once Again nut butters. Since this recipe uses honey or maple as a sweetener and no sugar at all or flours, it is also diabetic friendly, and gluten free. The serving size is helpful aiding in portion control for those watching their weight and total caloric intake each day.

Paleo Pumpkin Cake Bites

1 cup of pumpkin puree

¼ cup of maple syrup (or honey if preferred)

¼ cup of Once Again Creamy Almond Butter (or peanut butter)

¾ tsp of baking soda

1 tablespoon of almond milk

2 eggs (or flax eggs)

½ cup of coconut flour

2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice

¼ cup of dark chocolate chips

In medium sized bowl, mix pumpkin puree, maple syrup, and almond butter. Once well mixed, add in two lightly beaten eggs. In separate bowl, mix coconut flour with pumpkin pie spice and baking soda. Then add the dry mixture to the pumpkin mixture. Once well combined, fold in the chocolate chips and place in 8×8 baking dish lined with parchment paper. Place it in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes. Once edges are golden, and center is done, remove from oven, and let it cool. Cut into small squares and serve as cake bites. Optionally, melt ¼ cup of chocolate chips and use as topping for the cake bites. Store in an airtight container for up to five days.

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We are back with another blog focused on giving some of our favorite foods a make-over! Today we are tackling “pineapple cake.” You may wonder why; it is a bit of an odd choice for a make-over recipe. However, it was a fan request! We thank you, Susan from Florida, for sending in the note: “I am a huge cake fan; I often bake cakes according to season. During the winter I make spice cake; in the fall, I make pumpkin; summertime calls for citrus, and in the spring, I make pineapple cake. Since spring is upon us, can you help me with a cake recipe that is better for me and my family?”

We are with you on this one, Susan: As fellow cake-lovers we too must find better ways to bake cakes without all the added sugar and empty calories. The beauty of a spring cake is that you can vary it with lots of fruits such as bananas, pineapples, peaches and berries, for example. The addition of fruit to your cake batter helps hold moisture without the need for extra butter and oil. Of course, fruit also adds sweetness to the cake, allowing you to decrease the amount of sugar in the recipe.

Moreover, this is a good opportunity to also add protein, vitamins and minerals to your recipe. Most cakes have minimal amounts of nutrients, which makes them a poor candidate for a snack or breakfast food. To save cakes from falling entirely in the treats’ category, add some protein, and watch them graduate them into mini-meal status. But how do you do that without compromising taste? Once Again Nut Butter is the solution, of course! Not only does it add nutrients, including fiber but it also adds amazing flavor.

Since this is a spring cake, the obvious choice to enhance it was Once Again Sunflower Seed Butter (Have you seen the label? The flowers are just perfect for spring). Once Again Sunflower Seed Butter tastes like a handful of roasted sunflower seeds! You can choose the lightly sweetened variety (which is what we used for this cake), or the salt and sugar- free variety, if you like.. Once Again has both to offer. As a matter of fact, if you are a sunflower seed butter fan, make sure that you check stores for the squeeze packs of Once Again Sunflower Seed Butter, which are now available. They are so practical to toss into your purse for a snack, and they are perfect lunch box item for kids of all ages.

But now, let’s zoom in on another ingredient used in cakes that we can certainly find a healthier choice for: the oil. Most cake recipes will ask for vegetable or canola oil. But what if you could instead bake with coconut oil and reap the benefits of its abundant medium chain triglycerides, including lauric acid? Among its many benefits are MCTs (medium chain triglycerides) that help increase blood HDL levels– that’s the good kind of cholesterol. Actually, coconut oil is a fitting match for cake. Its properties are adequate for baking, and it doesn’t add a coconut flavor to the cake as one would expect. Although we wouldn’t be opposed to that outcome, if it did!

Lastly, let’s talk sugar. Cake without sugar is pretty much bread. Therefore, we know there needs to be some added sugar,but to make this recipe diabetic-friendly there is an option for using a stevia “sugar” baking mix. The key is that we are increasing the nutrients in the cake while lowering its “empty-calories,” attractive qualities that enable you to enjoy it more than every once in a while. Enjoy the cake and keep sending us comments with more ideas for recipe make-overs!

Springtime Pineapple Cake

3 cups of whole wheat flour

2 cups of sugar (or ¾ cup stevia sugar baking mix)

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

3 eggs

3 mashed bananas

1 can (14 ounces ) of crushed pineapple (do not drain)

¼ cup of coconut oil

½ cup of Once Again Sunflower Seed Butter

1 ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 cup of chopped toasted pecans

Add sugar, eggs and bananas to mixer and beat using a low setting. Add coconut oil (at room temperature), sunflower seed butter, and vanilla, next and in that order. In separate bowl, mix flour, cinnamon and baking soda. Now combine the dry mixture by adding it slowly to the mixing bowl and beat at a low setting. Make sure to beat until the mixture is well blended. Using a spoon, mix in crushed pineapple and pecans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a bundt cake pan with non-stick spray and pour mixture into it. Bake for approximately one hour and ten minutes. Allow the cake to cool for at least one hour before serving. Serve with pineapple ice cream or spread some extra Once Again Sunflower Seed Butter on top of the cake or on each slice!

I have a confession to make: I have a few too many Bundt cake pans! There, it’s out and the universe now, and I feel better already. Maybe it is because of the excitement of filling the pan with the batter and waiting to see the beautiful cake come out the oven: It reminds me a little bit of playing with modeling clay in kindergarten. Using molds and cookie cutters are really just bakes’ ways to express their inner child- like spirit, after all. I truly enjoy the creative process that goes into baking, sometimes more than eating the baked good…, well not really the cake is the best part!

When creating recipes for Bundt cake pans, I look for ingredients that can shine by themselves but also tell a story when a part of my cake. This may sound unusual, but remember I mentioned the creative process before. When you make cakes in such beautiful shapes, they become the center of your table, and therefore, must come with a story. For example, a family recipe for vanilla cake, when mixed up and baked in a fancy Bundt cake pan, gains new life as a family tradition, something to be celebrated, pictured and shared. In our interconnected world that we live in today, with social media as a part of most of our lives, we take pictures of our food and share it with those near and far with a few words that make up the story of each cake.

When all things go “pumpkin”- flavored by mid- October, it is time to bake a pumpkin Bundt Cake, and what better ingredient to join your story than Once Again Almond Butter? Besides adding flavor, moisture and depth to your cake, it brings a story of its own. Almond butters complement pumpkin so effortlessly in baked goods. The savory nature of the pumpkin meshes well with the nut butter, and they bring out the best in each other. Add a little nutmeg and honey, and you’ve achieved Bundt cake heaven. The recipe below is my original — I have made it again, and increased the honey up to 1 cup, and added ½ cup coconut oil which made it sweeter and fluffier, but, nevertheless, I still go back to my original recipe. It is not as sweet as a standard cake, but that is what I love about it. I usually dust a little powdered sugar on it and slice it thick, with the finishing touch being apricot jam or apple butter. Served with a nice cup of hot tea, this cake is my headline for the day. My social media post would look something like this: “Enjoying a slice of Bundt heaven made with almond butter goodness slathered in apricot jam while sipping my tea— #blessed!”

… bake and share your stories,

Carolina

Pumpkin Almond Bundt Cake

4 eggs

1 cup pumpkin puree

½ cup Killer Bee Honey

1/3 cup Once Again Creamy Almond Butter

3 cups whole wheat flour (or white flour)

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

Whisk eggs together until frothy, and then add pumpkin and almond butter. Mix well, while in separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix dry ingredients into egg mixture and finally, add the milk. You can add a little more milk if the mixture is too thick. Pour batter slowly into the Bundt cake pan, and place it in a preheated oven to 350 degrees. B for 60 minutes, and check with a toothpick for readiness. When the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done.